Battiata & Associates

[djrobsd]

Thought I’d share my experience from last night, and thanks for all the responses so far…

One of their agents showed up at my door to talk to me about listing my house with them. He was dressed in a 3 piece suit, sharp as a tack, and carried a fancy tablet PC with him.

He gave me the whole sales pitch again about the Battiata way of selling real estate, and told me some interesting things about their company:

-They need to sell 8 homes a month to pay for their advertising expenses!!!

-They don’t put flyers out
-They don’t do open houses
-They don’t do broker caravans

Granted, none of these things usually sell a house, but I guess when you’re a real estate factory, you don’t have time to do open houses, or put flyers out, so to me “it doesn’t sell the home” is just a cop out for being too lazy to do it.

All that aside, we get to the contract part. He starts getting a little put pushy, like he might be in a hurry to get to another apointment or what have you, and that’s where I really start to feel uncomfortable.

I asked him “please email me the contract, i’ll look it over and let you know if I decide to go with your company”… At which point, he begins asking “So what are your reservations”… “Are there any other agents you’re talking to?” “What would I need to do to ease your concerns”….

I then asked him if I could see the contract, and so he pulls it up on his tablet PC. He says “it’s just standard boiler plate real estate contract material”, and starts scrolling through the DRE contract. I notice, however, on “Other Compensation to Broker”, they have a $695 “Transaction Coordinator Fee” to be paid by Seller. He quickly scrolled past that part, and then skips through the pages real fast, and he gets to the end, and there is a “Seller may not cancel this agreement prior to 90 days. Cancellation of this agreement will result in a $995 fee to cover Broker’s expenses.”

He quickly Put a big X over that and initialed it, and then he was all “See, I already made it easier for you by removing the cancellation clause”… And so then I proceed to ask him about the transaction coordinator fee, and he gives me this huge song and dance about “you need to protect yourself from getting sued, and the transaction coordinator is there to make sure all the ducks are in a row to make sure the transaction closes smoothly and to make sure all the paperwork is filed correctly so they can’t sue you later”.

That was the biggest WAD of BS I’ve ever heard in my life. First of all, it’s a realtor’s job to be the transaction coordinator, or at least someone in their office is. That’s what the 3% commission to them pays for! Secondly, it doesn’t matter WHO handles the transaction or HOW the transaction is handled. If a buyer decides to sue you because of something you didn’t disclose, a transaction coordinator is not going to prevent or stop that from happening. And what’s to say their transaction coordinator doesn’t make mistakes or slip up from time to time.

So, in summary, I felt like i was being taken for a ride by a fast talking salesman, for that reason I would never consider using them to sell my house.

[djrobsd]

Thought I’d share my experience from last night, and thanks for all the responses so far…

One of their agents showed up at my door to talk to me about listing my house with them. He was dressed in a 3 piece suit, sharp as a tack, and carried a fancy tablet PC with him.

He gave me the whole sales pitch again about the Battiata way of selling real estate, and told me some interesting things about their company:

-They need to sell 8 homes a month to pay for their advertising expenses!!!

-They don’t put flyers out
-They don’t do open houses
-They don’t do broker caravans

Granted, none of these things usually sell a house, but I guess when you’re a real estate factory, you don’t have time to do open houses, or put flyers out, so to me “it doesn’t sell the home” is just a cop out for being too lazy to do it.

All that aside, we get to the contract part. He starts getting a little put pushy, like he might be in a hurry to get to another apointment or what have you, and that’s where I really start to feel uncomfortable.

I asked him “please email me the contract, i’ll look it over and let you know if I decide to go with your company”… At which point, he begins asking “So what are your reservations”… “Are there any other agents you’re talking to?” “What would I need to do to ease your concerns”….

I then asked him if I could see the contract, and so he pulls it up on his tablet PC. He says “it’s just standard boiler plate real estate contract material”, and starts scrolling through the DRE contract. I notice, however, on “Other Compensation to Broker”, they have a $695 “Transaction Coordinator Fee” to be paid by Seller. He quickly scrolled past that part, and then skips through the pages real fast, and he gets to the end, and there is a “Seller may not cancel this agreement prior to 90 days. Cancellation of this agreement will result in a $995 fee to cover Broker’s expenses.”

He quickly Put a big X over that and initialed it, and then he was all “See, I already made it easier for you by removing the cancellation clause”… And so then I proceed to ask him about the transaction coordinator fee, and he gives me this huge song and dance about “you need to protect yourself from getting sued, and the transaction coordinator is there to make sure all the ducks are in a row to make sure the transaction closes smoothly and to make sure all the paperwork is filed correctly so they can’t sue you later”.

That was the biggest WAD of BS I’ve ever heard in my life. First of all, it’s a realtor’s job to be the transaction coordinator, or at least someone in their office is. That’s what the 3% commission to them pays for! Secondly, it doesn’t matter WHO handles the transaction or HOW the transaction is handled. If a buyer decides to sue you because of something you didn’t disclose, a transaction coordinator is not going to prevent or stop that from happening. And what’s to say their transaction coordinator doesn’t make mistakes or slip up from time to time.

So, in summary, I felt like i was being taken for a ride by a fast talking salesman, for that reason I would never consider using them to sell my house.

[Raybyrnes]

djrobsd

I can see that if you have a problem with a fee, letting the representative know but sounds to me like there is a confidence problem here.

This guy is a sales representative. His job is to close sales not to gather up informaiton. Yo0u should have done that on your own in a pre sales process. Talking to people that have used the service. Checking the BBB. What is he suppose to say when you want to look material over, OK I’ll check back in with you. Your comment was a complete cop out. I’d fire that guy if he that was his approach. Youer reluctance to sign was the fee structure. How stating “I do not like the fee structure and feel that it is not an industry practice. This give me concern about using your services.”

You mentioned in your previous post that they guarantee a sale. What was the disclaimer on that. Isn’t that the real reason you were meeting with the rep.

According to every poster on this site this is a bad market to sell in. A buyer is going to need real convincing. How would you feel if you selected an agent who each time he took a good prospect to your home left thte sale on the table becasue he wsa shy or time to ask for the deal. This does not suggest they should be rude and if this gentleman was than that is uncalled for but if he is a little pushy than that is not a bad sign but probably a good one. If it was an interview process it would be precisely what would have me go with a rep as oppose to not going with one.

Sounds to me like you have that type of personality that whenever you walk off the car lot you are still looking to make sure you weren’t taken rather than enjoying the ride.

Instead of focusing on the $600 fee I would be focusing on the more important issue of selling my home for top dollar. If you don’t think that they can sell your home I would be reluctant to sign a contract. This would hold true for a discounter the same as a full service person. If on the other hand you are electing not to do business because a sales rep is doing his job of probing to find out the reason for resistance than I think you need to prioritize your decision making criteria.

[Raybyrnes]

djrobsd

I can see that if you have a problem with a fee, letting the representative know but sounds to me like there is a confidence problem here.

This guy is a sales representative. His job is to close sales not to gather up informaiton. Yo0u should have done that on your own in a pre sales process. Talking to people that have used the service. Checking the BBB. What is he suppose to say when you want to look material over, OK I’ll check back in with you. Your comment was a complete cop out. I’d fire that guy if he that was his approach. Youer reluctance to sign was the fee structure. How stating “I do not like the fee structure and feel that it is not an industry practice. This give me concern about using your services.”

You mentioned in your previous post that they guarantee a sale. What was the disclaimer on that. Isn’t that the real reason you were meeting with the rep.

According to every poster on this site this is a bad market to sell in. A buyer is going to need real convincing. How would you feel if you selected an agent who each time he took a good prospect to your home left thte sale on the table becasue he wsa shy or time to ask for the deal. This does not suggest they should be rude and if this gentleman was than that is uncalled for but if he is a little pushy than that is not a bad sign but probably a good one. If it was an interview process it would be precisely what would have me go with a rep as oppose to not going with one.

Sounds to me like you have that type of personality that whenever you walk off the car lot you are still looking to make sure you weren’t taken rather than enjoying the ride.

Instead of focusing on the $600 fee I would be focusing on the more important issue of selling my home for top dollar. If you don’t think that they can sell your home I would be reluctant to sign a contract. This would hold true for a discounter the same as a full service person. If on the other hand you are electing not to do business because a sales rep is doing his job of probing to find out the reason for resistance than I think you need to prioritize your decision making criteria.

[djrobsd]

First of all, I don’t think you understand what my beef with this guy is, let me summarize.

He stated something along the lines of “it’s just a standard DRE contract”, but yet there was a $695 fee in there that if you did not scan closely with your eyes, you would probably miss, and then be subject to pay. That’s not a “Standard” fee in the real estate business, it’s something typically found with a discount broker, not a full service broker that’s charging 6% commission.

To me, if a realtor is going to make a promise on TV such as “you can cancel at any time if you’re not satisfied” which is what he USED to say, but I don’t think he’s saying any more, and then he automatically puts a $995 cancellation fee in his contract, he’s contradicting himself, and should not be given the time of day.

I do business the old fashioned way, which is you disclose everything up front to the person you are doing business with, and not try and hide anything. If you tell me “it’s just the standard contract”, and then you add in some hidden costs to the “Standard” contract, then you’re not very ethical.

So for me, this is not just the fact that he was pushy, it’s also an ethical question. If they are this unethical in signing a deal with me, then what are they going to do during the sales and negotiation process?

And for the record, I did tell him I wasn’t willing to pay the fee, and he said “if that’s your only concern, i’ll remove it.”

[djrobsd]

First of all, I don’t think you understand what my beef with this guy is, let me summarize.

He stated something along the lines of “it’s just a standard DRE contract”, but yet there was a $695 fee in there that if you did not scan closely with your eyes, you would probably miss, and then be subject to pay. That’s not a “Standard” fee in the real estate business, it’s something typically found with a discount broker, not a full service broker that’s charging 6% commission.

To me, if a realtor is going to make a promise on TV such as “you can cancel at any time if you’re not satisfied” which is what he USED to say, but I don’t think he’s saying any more, and then he automatically puts a $995 cancellation fee in his contract, he’s contradicting himself, and should not be given the time of day.

I do business the old fashioned way, which is you disclose everything up front to the person you are doing business with, and not try and hide anything. If you tell me “it’s just the standard contract”, and then you add in some hidden costs to the “Standard” contract, then you’re not very ethical.

So for me, this is not just the fact that he was pushy, it’s also an ethical question. If they are this unethical in signing a deal with me, then what are they going to do during the sales and negotiation process?

And for the record, I did tell him I wasn’t willing to pay the fee, and he said “if that’s your only concern, i’ll remove it.”

[Raybyrnes]

Seems like you are contradicting yourself. The contract is stating right upfront that they have charges. Doesn’t seem to be hidden in any fine print here because it jumped off the page and you questioned him on it. You didn’t feel this was reasonable and negotiated this out. Sounds like you are doing smart business.

I still don’t see anything in your statement about their capability of selling your home. I thought they had a guarantee to sell or they would buy it from you. Still seems like you are focused on a negotiable fee.

If I were a home seller right now I would be offering an extra 1 or 2 % to get a home sold especially if I was firm on my askig price. The bottom line is I am either going to come in lower by 5% than comparable homes on the market or I am going to generate traffic by incentivizing the agents to sell my home.

Standard is a relative term. Standard lighting use to be the sun, then was a candle and today is a lightbulb. I would reccommend being flexible and open minded. If you don’t think their system is going to work then I would take a pass.

You didn’t know this repfrom a hole in the wall. You don;’t know the realators who post on this sight but you ahve a ton of dialog from their posts. Why wouldn’t you call on them if you want something “tandard” Most people start the hiring with a referral.

[Raybyrnes]

Seems like you are contradicting yourself. The contract is stating right upfront that they have charges. Doesn’t seem to be hidden in any fine print here because it jumped off the page and you questioned him on it. You didn’t feel this was reasonable and negotiated this out. Sounds like you are doing smart business.

I still don’t see anything in your statement about their capability of selling your home. I thought they had a guarantee to sell or they would buy it from you. Still seems like you are focused on a negotiable fee.

If I were a home seller right now I would be offering an extra 1 or 2 % to get a home sold especially if I was firm on my askig price. The bottom line is I am either going to come in lower by 5% than comparable homes on the market or I am going to generate traffic by incentivizing the agents to sell my home.

Standard is a relative term. Standard lighting use to be the sun, then was a candle and today is a lightbulb. I would reccommend being flexible and open minded. If you don’t think their system is going to work then I would take a pass.

You didn’t know this repfrom a hole in the wall. You don;’t know the realators who post on this sight but you ahve a ton of dialog from their posts. Why wouldn’t you call on them if you want something “tandard” Most people start the hiring with a referral.

[Critter]

Re: the transaction coordinator fee, I just got a reimbursement check for this very fee from a legal company that specializes in class action lawsuits.

The RE company was Coldwell Banker. Everyone who closed escrow with them during a certain time frame (I believe it was two years) got a $200 refund check, whether the fee was part of their escrow paperwork or not.

I agree with the OP that such fees should be part of the Realtor’s commission and not an add-on.

[Critter]

Re: the transaction coordinator fee, I just got a reimbursement check for this very fee from a legal company that specializes in class action lawsuits.

The RE company was Coldwell Banker. Everyone who closed escrow with them during a certain time frame (I believe it was two years) got a $200 refund check, whether the fee was part of their escrow paperwork or not.

I agree with the OP that such fees should be part of the Realtor’s commission and not an add-on.

[Raybyrnes]

I don’t like fees any more than the next person. But there are different interest here. Plenty of home sellers are looking for discounts, rebates etc. I am not going to bag on them for doing so and if it is agreed to by the selling agent then good for the customer and bad for the agent. Likewise if a realator has a better system for selling a home and wants to ask for aaddional compensation then good for the seller and bad for the client.

Here is my question to you. If someone guaranteed to move you home in 10 days or pay you upfront full asking price for the home what is that worth to you. If they said 6% plus 1000$ fee, in this market I would probably pay. 2 year ago not a chance.

[Raybyrnes]

I don’t like fees any more than the next person. But there are different interest here. Plenty of home sellers are looking for discounts, rebates etc. I am not going to bag on them for doing so and if it is agreed to by the selling agent then good for the customer and bad for the agent. Likewise if a realator has a better system for selling a home and wants to ask for aaddional compensation then good for the seller and bad for the client.

Here is my question to you. If someone guaranteed to move you home in 10 days or pay you upfront full asking price for the home what is that worth to you. If they said 6% plus 1000$ fee, in this market I would probably pay. 2 year ago not a chance.

[djrobsd]

Hahaha, I’d pay the $1000 fee!!! But they aren’t buying people’s homes any more. The only time they will “Buy” a home is if someone wants to buy your home that already has another house, they will “make a guaranteed offer” on their home so they can buy yours. My guess is they probably offer 10-20% below the appraised value so they don’t loose their shirts on that guarantee.

You mention if a realtor has a better system then they deserve to charge fees. I agree to a certain extent, but I think that TV and newspaper ads have deceived people into thinking that Battiata can sell your house. The truth is in the numbers, and after looking at MLS data for him, for every home he sells there is another one he doesn’t. So, my theory is that he just takes as many listings as he can within reason, and hopes that a certain percentage of them sell.

To me, this could work, if the right buyer for my home happened to be watching his TV commercial at the time, but if not, I think going with him would be a bad thing because he wouldn’t be networking with other agents and calling all of his past clients to try and sell my home. When you have 60 listings you don’t have time for all that, but when you’re a well established and respected realtor with a small number of listings, with a lot of contacts in the business, I think that can go a lot further in getting a home sold….

Just my theory of course, I’m by no means an expert here. 😉

[djrobsd]

Hahaha, I’d pay the $1000 fee!!! But they aren’t buying people’s homes any more. The only time they will “Buy” a home is if someone wants to buy your home that already has another house, they will “make a guaranteed offer” on their home so they can buy yours. My guess is they probably offer 10-20% below the appraised value so they don’t loose their shirts on that guarantee.

You mention if a realtor has a better system then they deserve to charge fees. I agree to a certain extent, but I think that TV and newspaper ads have deceived people into thinking that Battiata can sell your house. The truth is in the numbers, and after looking at MLS data for him, for every home he sells there is another one he doesn’t. So, my theory is that he just takes as many listings as he can within reason, and hopes that a certain percentage of them sell.

To me, this could work, if the right buyer for my home happened to be watching his TV commercial at the time, but if not, I think going with him would be a bad thing because he wouldn’t be networking with other agents and calling all of his past clients to try and sell my home. When you have 60 listings you don’t have time for all that, but when you’re a well established and respected realtor with a small number of listings, with a lot of contacts in the business, I think that can go a lot further in getting a home sold….

Just my theory of course, I’m by no means an expert here. 😉

[Raybyrnes]

This is an entirely differnt story. I am with you here. I count my coins and if they are looking for a fee, and you have no reason to think that they are doing anything differnt than the next guy or if the sales agent hasn’t conveyed the value add, than I’m in your camp. I think it was a different psoter who stated the guareanted to buy you home so to me that seems like a pretty enticing piece to explore. Hopefully I didn’t ruffle your feathers here. I think I have a better idea of the situation now.

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